One day a wealthy member of the town
approached Jesus and asked him this
question: "Good Teacher, what good thing
must I do to have eternal life?"
Matthew 19:16
Last night I had my Bible study in the chapel…
approached Jesus and asked him this
question: "Good Teacher, what good thing
must I do to have eternal life?"
Matthew 19:16
Last night I had my Bible study in the chapel…
I was happy to once again see a good turnout. We looked at the story of the rich man who came to Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do to obtain eternal life. It was a reasonable question; I told the guys. And so we went to Matthew's gospel account to check it out. Matthew 19:16-22.
As the story goes, a man who was very wealthy wanted to make it into Heaven when he died. Don't we all? But Jesus, perhaps sensing his self-centeredness along with his sense of self-righteousness when he bragged about having obeyed all God's commandments, tested the rich man by telling him to sell all his goods and distribute the proceeds to the poor.
Well, that was all it took for the Lord to expose this man's selfishness, and his conceited heart. He wanted Heaven and the assurance of eternal life, but had no desire to make Messiah Jesus the Lord of his life.
And this was when our study got interesting. We went deep into the nitty-gritty of the story and saw that here was a self-satisfied soul who wanted salvation on his terms. But when Jesus tried to make him understand that He was to be the rich man's Lord as well, he was not having any of it.
Upon examination, we saw that when we come to Christ seeking salvation and the forgiveness of our sins, we are at the same time giving Jesus the right to become the Lord of our lives in addition to becoming our Savior.
We saw that when it comes to salvation and being "born again," we can no longer live like we used to. That true repentance involves turning from selfishness and sin, to now living for God. Obviously, the rich man wanted no part of this, either.
Therefore, although he retained all his earthy riches, he never received the gift of eternal life. In essence, he was spiritually poor. No wonder he left from the Lord's presence feeling sad.
D.B.
As the story goes, a man who was very wealthy wanted to make it into Heaven when he died. Don't we all? But Jesus, perhaps sensing his self-centeredness along with his sense of self-righteousness when he bragged about having obeyed all God's commandments, tested the rich man by telling him to sell all his goods and distribute the proceeds to the poor.
Well, that was all it took for the Lord to expose this man's selfishness, and his conceited heart. He wanted Heaven and the assurance of eternal life, but had no desire to make Messiah Jesus the Lord of his life.
And this was when our study got interesting. We went deep into the nitty-gritty of the story and saw that here was a self-satisfied soul who wanted salvation on his terms. But when Jesus tried to make him understand that He was to be the rich man's Lord as well, he was not having any of it.
Upon examination, we saw that when we come to Christ seeking salvation and the forgiveness of our sins, we are at the same time giving Jesus the right to become the Lord of our lives in addition to becoming our Savior.
We saw that when it comes to salvation and being "born again," we can no longer live like we used to. That true repentance involves turning from selfishness and sin, to now living for God. Obviously, the rich man wanted no part of this, either.
Therefore, although he retained all his earthy riches, he never received the gift of eternal life. In essence, he was spiritually poor. No wonder he left from the Lord's presence feeling sad.
D.B.
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